/walker/ general

[Anonymous No.17447561]

What is essential /walker/ literature?

>roman philosophy (walking culture was big among the urban ancients)
>Petersburg by Andrei Bely
>The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil
>most of the Dosto novels
>Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa
>Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin
>Dubliners by James Joyce

Post your picks as well as your thoughts on /walking/

[Anonymous No.17447571]

>>17447561
>>Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin
I have that lying around bu never got around to reading it. Is it good?

[Anonymous No.17447575]

Rousseau's Reveries of a Solitary Walker

[Anonymous No.17447577]

>>17447561
i mean obviously Aristotle, it isnt called the Peripatetic school for nothing

[Anonymous No.17447580]

>>17447571
It's good but it's a pain to read in my opinion

[Anonymous No.17447589]

the tartar steppe

[Anonymous No.17447595]

Walking by Thoreau
Walking Tours by Stevenson

[Anonymous No.17447596]

>>17447561
>not calling this general /perambulist/
sad!

[Anonymous No.17447598]

>>17447561

Nietzsche the most lauded of all walkers

[Anonymous No.17447678]

>>17447596
>>17447561
>neither of you looking into /flâneur/

[Anonymous No.17447721]

>>17447598
So he only walked when he came up with that quote?

[Anonymous No.17447790]

>>17447561
Is there one of these for a "The N year old X-er"?

Seriously who the fuck keeps making these pics (and why are they always so accurate)?

[Anonymous No.17447802]

when i got into university i became the meme. started walking 10+ hours each day, lost 25 kilos, drank all the booze i could find and smoke one pack of cigarettes a day.
don't fall for the walker meme, it's not good.
also, recs from a once living walker anon to the others: joyce, beckett and woolf.

[Anonymous No.17447815]

>>17447790
It's just a form of cold reading, anon. They're 'accurate' because they cast a very wide net (often tailored for this website). The picture in the OP is literally every other (non-retarded) person who goes on walks.

[Anonymous No.17447823]

Journey to the West

[Anonymous No.17447824]

>>17447561
>flaneur/lit/
Against Nature

[Anonymous No.17447830]

>>17447721
Yeah, the dude walked for like 6 hours a day, stopping at the same cafe for lunch to eat a steak.

[Anonymous No.17447836]

The Rings of Saturn

[Anonymous No.17447872]

>>17447561
Robert Walser - The Walk
The author took daily long walks, even died during one

[Anonymous No.17448157]

>>17447561
Most of these deal with walking in a broader context or have walking and/or wandering as a theme somehow, although most of them don't focus on an urban setting:
>The Wild Places and The Old Ways
by Robert Macfarlane
> The Rings of Saturn and to some extent both Austerlitz and Vertigo by W.G. Sebald
>Walking, a Novel by Thomas Bernhard
> Desert Solitaire by Abbey
>The Living Mountain by Nan Sheperd
>The Path to the Spiders Nest by Calvino
> Suttree by McCarthy
> A Time of Gifts by Fermor
>The Peregrine by Baker
> Manfred by Byron
>My first summee in the Sierra by Muir
> Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche
> Hiking with Nietzsche by Kaag
>War and War by Kraznahorkai
> The Gentle Art of Tramping by Graham
> Train Dreams by Dennis Johnson
> The Lawless Roads by Greene
>Of Heroes and Graves by Sabato and Pedro Paramo by Rulfo both fit the atmosphere because there are mad, haunted Latin Americans wandering through Buenos Aires/Mexican villages.

That's what I could remember off the top of my head, I could go more in depth on straigth-up nature writing, romantic poetry, mad/depressed/alcoholic/drugged-up walkers, travel-stories or asian literature on the subject if any of those interest you.

[Anonymous No.17448286]

>>17447561
>walker
>not flâneur
ngmi
Anyway: Paris spleen by Baudelaire, Letters to Lou-Andréas Salomé by Rilke, Cruel Tales by Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, Le flâneur des deux rives by Apollinaire, The Heresiarch and co by Apollinaire, Dr. Faustroll by Jarry, Paris, Capital of the 19th Century by Benjamin are flâneur-core. I'm pretty Léon Bloy has something about it somewhere but I cannot remember.

[Anonymous No.17448296]

The ring series by Tolkien? All they fuckin do is walk in those books

[Anonymous No.17448322]

>>17448157
This anon again, just back to say that
this anon:
>>17448286
Has some seriously good rec's. Benjamin convinced me to put in the effort to visit the catacombes in Paris. It's a shame the Arcades project was never finished, I feel it would be like The Man Without Qualities for Paris.

[Anonymous No.17448526]

>>17448286
Fuck off Francophile, no one has time for bottom tier Euro literature

[Anonymous No.17448533]

>>17447561
>knows his city like the back of his hand
is invalidated by
>walks the same route every day
>doesn't pay any attention to his surroundings

[Anonymous No.17448559]

[Anonymous No.17448579]

>>17447561
>The 32 year old walker

>walks his kids to school everyday
>walks on his lunch breaks
>walks after work to the grocery store
>things change, for the worse
>is an old man

[Anonymous No.17448670]

>>17447589
I just thinking about that book, going to reread it now, thanks.

[Anonymous No.17448963]

based flaneur

[Anonymous No.17449022]

I had a job downtown where I would just walk every day on my lunch breaks. It was really nice.

[Anonymous No.17449539]

>>17447561
>Feels like an old man
>Life passes him by
>Neighbors think there's something wrong with him

[Anonymous No.17449546]

>>17448533
you wouldn't get it

[Anonymous No.17449767]

Walking has became one of my major hobbies in these times of lockdown where, in my country, bars and pubs are closed for the most part of the day, and open when I usually have to study. So in order to get some fresh air I walk alone, expecially when I'm in my college city that is, without doubt, beautiful. I even dress almost like a flaneur. From what is already said about the essential walker literature I'll add Death in Venice, In search of lost Time, and The Perfume (for some kind of aspects). Here's also a thought of mine about walking, wrote rapidly after one of urban travels, translated with Google:

Wandering aimlessly for me is like reading a book or admiring a work of art. During that experience, from what I analyze through the senses I draw meanings, as if they came from words or symbols. There is no plot, perhaps some sort of ancient vestige destined to break away. In the sense, these symbols are different each time, and are embodied in light, in architectural details, in smells. Combining they form a sort of sentence, which "reading" stimulates a particular thought in me, definitely influenced by what is swirling in my mind

[Anonymous No.17449795]

>>17447561
>roman philosophy (walking culture was big among the urban ancients)
The plebs or what? Where did you read this? I have a hard time believing patricians and politicians or military Romans just walked about the same route day after day. It seems so monotonous and totally counter to the Roman ideal of life.

[Anonymous No.17449801]

>>17447802
I think your issue was more the drinking and smoking daily thing and not so much the woolking.

[Anonymous No.17449808]

I walk for at least 1-2 hours everyday after work but I really have nowhere nice to walk. I basically live in a suburban development in the middle of nowhere so I just walk around the sidewalk of all these middle class suburban houses. I never see anyone who’s not walking their dog. I think people think I’m weird. Walking is better in the heart of the city or in the countryside. My in-between just feels weird.

[Anonymous No.17449850]

>>17447561
This guy is unironically, literally me, everything in the meme applies

[Anonymous No.17449979]

>>17449795
Here is an example:
The geographer Strabo preserves an amusing anecdote about the interaction of Romans and “barbarians” on the Iberian peninsula in the first century BC. Although the Romans had formed a political alliance with the Vettonians, there was inevitably a certain degree of culture clash (Geog. 3.4.16):
>see pic
Here we see Strabo portraying leisurely walking as part and parcel of civilization. Of culture. Of the Greco-Roman identity. If you do not walk you are a barbarian, only slightly above the level of a dumb animal.
There is more examples like this throught many of ancient texts.

>>17449808
I feel for all american anons who live in suburbia. Do you at least have some scenic spots nearby or is it just endless mcmansions?

[Anonymous No.17450118]

>>17449979
>Do you at least have some scenic spots nearby or is it just endless mcmansions?
They’re not even McMansions. They’re mostly smallish 1-2 story middle class homes from the 50s and 60s. There are really scenic areas if I’m willing to drive a few minutes or drive to the sort of downtown-ish area. Otherwise, I have like a 50m stretch through the woods between my street and a middle school parking lot and that’s it.

[Anonymous No.17450135]

>>17449979
>Here we see Strabo portraying leisurely walking as part and parcel of civilization. Of culture. Of the Greco-Roman identity. If you do not walk you are a barbarian, only slightly above the level of a dumb animal.
>There is more examples like this throught many of ancient texts.
That’s really interesting. It’s relevant to thoughts I’ve had and questions I’ve asked myself about like mindless leisure (in this case, walking) vs. work (in the case of barbarians maybe farming or something). I didn’t know about this.

[Anonymous No.17450170]

>>17449979
Are you aware of similar writings on the Germans by chance?

[Anonymous No.17450203]

>>17450170
De origine et situ Germanorum or in english, On the Origin and Situation of the Germans by Tacitus.

[Anonymous No.17450205]

>>17450203
It mentions German walking habits?

[Anonymous No.17450213]

Will Self is a known flâneur, has a book titled Walking to Hollywood

[Anonymous No.17450220]

>>17447790
>>17447790 is correct, but sometimes they really are accurate

i'm actually unemployed and walk 3 hours a day in my local forest, usually listening to audiobooks

[Anonymous No.17450244]

>>17450205
Maybe, can't say for sure as I haven't read that one specifically.

[Anonymous No.17450363]

>>17448157
I am interested in mad walkers and asian lit pls thank you

[Anonymous No.17450397]

>>17447802
why did you counteract the benefits of walking with cigs and alcohol

[Anonymous No.17450457]

>>17447830
based

[Anonymous No.17450471]

>>17447561
The Unconsoled - Ishiguro

[Anonymous No.17450480]

Debord

[Anonymous No.17450559]

>>17448559
this series is such a little gem. The imagery of space travel in the first book really inspired me immensely. Lewis is super talented.

[Anonymous No.17450646]

>>17447561
Narrow Road to the Interior by Matsuo Basho
The Rings of Saturn by W. G. Sebald

[Anonymous No.17451602]

>>17450363
Mad and or suffering:
>Havoc by Kristensen
>The Evenings by Reve
>Beyond Sleep by Hermans
> Riding towards everywhere by Vollmann

About asians:
The book mentioned above by Basho is great and Mountain Home by Hinton is a great collection of Chinese Mountain poetry, good as an intro.

[Anonymous No.17452261]

>walk through uninteresting suburban sprawl and risk being seen as a suspicious weirdo and harassed by inept police

[Anonymous No.17452673]

>>17450220
Based

[Anonymous No.17452889]

how the fuck did it take 50 posts for debord to get mentioned, this meme is literally a reference to him and the situationist international. they called it "dérive"
the absolute state of this board

[Anonymous No.17452914]

>>17447561
>20 years old
>Life passes him by

[Anonymous No.17452954]

>>17447830
Sounds pretty based.

[Anonymous No.17453002]

Why are you taking pictures of me OP?

[Anonymous No.17453004]

>>17447561
I sometimes autistically pace around my room while imagining that I’m lecturing somebody on a topic I’m passionate about. This counts as walking.
Also
>Lincoln in the Bardo

[Anonymous No.17453020]

>>17450220
Have you listened to A short History of nearly everything? I just did it was pretty good. can you recommend any good non-fic?
>t.walker

[Anonymous No.17453043]

I’m this except combined with the scrooler and the thinker.

[Anonymous No.17453053]

>>17453043
I’m the thinker while walking, and the schooler at home, it sucks

[Anonymous No.17453599]

>>17448533
t. not a walker

[Anonymous No.17453609]

>>17447561
Roman's Romed around

[Anonymous No.17454029]

If you listen to anything while walking you will not make it.
>t. walks 4.5 hours a day

[Anonymous No.17454542]

>>17447561
Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello.
You’re deep down in the brittle depths and there ain’t a cure but your doc’s. No layman could bleat this hard, you’re in luck.

[Anonymous No.17454747]

>>17447561
Where do you guys go for your midnight walks?

[Anonymous No.17455038]

>>17447561
>The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury
http://achsblueenglish.weebly.com/uploads/7/6/7/3/7673592/the_pedestrian.pdf
It's a short read but very interesting, especially if you have read Fahrenheit 451.

[Anonymous No.17455056]

>>17447561
>Knows his city like the back of his hand
>Walks the same route every day
Aren't these opposed to each other?

[Anonymous No.17455121]

>>17455056
You wouldn't get it, it's not so simple.

>>17454747
>Where do you guys go for your midnight walks?
I usually stick to my block and a few nearby blocks, downtown is filled with drunk and dangeorus youths at night in my city.

[Anonymous No.17455128]

Demian by Hesse
he's walking all the time

[Anonymous No.17455233]

>>17455121
>drunk and dangeorus youths
yeah, you called?

[Anonymous No.17455235]

The Walkers by Walser

[Anonymous No.17455390]

>>17448526
cope, the French invented modern walking

[Anonymous No.17455391]

>>17453053
Wtf that's me

[Anonymous No.17455399]

>>17455390
>the f*ench invented modern walking
Christ, is there anything a francophile won't try to appropriate for himself? Nay, there is not.

[Anonymous No.17455584]

>>17455399
Look at the facts fren. Modern walking could only be invented in a highly industrialised city. The first contender is obviously London. But the English obviously didn't care much about walking aimlessly. Why? My guesses are that several factors are at hand. Firstly the weather, which is famously bad in London. Secondly the anglo ideology: the poor could not invent modern walking because they are too busy not dying of hunger. The metropolitan English aristocrat or bourgeois believed obviously too much in the idea of progress and in their own worth to lose their time walking aimlessly.
The second city that became highly-industrialised is Paris. The weather is nicer, some members of the aristocratic and bourgeois classes are already disillusioned by the idea of progress having seen 1789, 1830 and 1848. Haussmann also played a big role by completely transforming Paris, making it more walkable but also making urbanism a very tangible thing, a thing to see for the anticipating eye. Paris is also far less extended than London meaning that you can more easily vary were you walk and what you see. The Haussmann works also facilitated this. Finally, I believe that the banks of the Seine were a lot more constructed for walking than the ones of the Thames.
We can see proto-walkers in both England and France (de Quincey, de Nerval), but the first true modern walker is Baudelaire with his Spleen de Paris. Then dandyism and idle artists followed his path.

[Anonymous No.17455605]

>>17455584
Topkek

[Anonymous No.17455615]

Why would I walk when I could stroll?

[Anonymous No.17455622]

Why would I stroll when i can gander?

[Anonymous No.17455628]

why are the french so fucking obsessed with naming every single street they walk down in paris fuck

[Anonymous No.17455633]

Why would I gander when I can peregrinate?

[Anonymous No.17455653]

>>17453020
yes great book, bill bryson also has another one called The Body. similar style of storytelling. if you're into science there are many classics available in audiobook, like The Selfish Gene (read by Dawkins himself)

but i'd say stick to relatively pop-science stuff. i detest attempts at turning technical science books into audio format, because there's no way to read out graphs and formulas comprehensibly.

history books are great for walking. i'm listening to The Cold War by Gaddis and it's got a lot of a new content not found in most books about the cold war

[Anonymous No.17455917]

>f*enchfag thinks p*ris was the first urban metropolis with a well off caste that liked to stroll around

[Anonymous No.17456040]

>>17455917
>not understanding the world "modern"

[Anonymous No.17456117]

I'm gonna STROOOOOOOOLL today and there is nothing you can do about it :)

[Anonymous No.17456184]

>>17455917
> romaboo thinks the strollpill originated in Rome and not Athens

[Anonymous No.17456195]

>>17456184

[Anonymous No.17456343]

>>17453599
I am and that's how I know you're a poser. The dérive is the most pure expression of the walker lifestyle

[Anonymous No.17456355]

>>17455121
>only covers a few nearby blocks
>BUT I KNOW MY CITY INTIMATELY YOU GUYS DON'T UNDERSTAND
Pathetic. You've invented a bullshit character and you can't even live up to it.

[Anonymous No.17456381]

>>17447561
It was while stopping at this rock while on a walk that Nietzsche first thought of the eternal recurrence. He used to go on long walks to think

[Anonymous No.17456463]

>>17456355
>reading comprehension test results
0/100

[Anonymous No.17456482]

>>17456381
I wish I lived near mountains.

[Anonymous No.17456530]

>>17447595
Everything thoreau desu

[Anonymous No.17456901]

>>17456482
I just wish I could travel to them somewhat easily. I live in the Appalachians but honestly, not only is it still kind of difficult to do the traveling to get out there but the “mountains” are really more of big hills.

[Anonymous No.17457319]

Just spent the afternoon flâning. AMA.

[Anonymous No.17457333]

>>17456184
the anabasis was the first hardcore flaneur novel

[Anonymous No.17457417]

>>17447561
I can't go on walks because the neighborhood I live in is 90% black and consistently makes the top ten most dangerous neighborhoods in the US.

[Anonymous No.17458034]

>>17447561
Ulysses is just a big book about walking around.

[Anonymous No.17458113]

>>17457417
lol pussy

>>17456463
Stay mad, "walker"

[Anonymous No.17458149]

>tfw used to love to walk
>would walk for 2 hours a day
>no music or anything, just peace and quiet
>tfw now a cripple
>can’t walk anymore

heheZzz..... time to become a writer... I guess.... can’t do much else... hehe

[Anonymous No.17458164]

Wooolking is the only physical activity I enjoy anymore.

[Anonymous No.17458233]

>>17458149
>>tfw now a cripple
get on your wheel chair and become a ROLLER
alpha chad of the sidewalk, barrelling into mothers with their baby carriages.

[Anonymous No.17458364]

I miss walking for hours listening to "Story of Civilization" by the Durant's. Peak comfy book and late summer/early fall made it kino

[Anonymous No.17458420]

>>17447561
The essential dogen

[Anonymous No.17458551]

>>17447561
add lindyman to the /walker/ canon

https://paulskallas.substack.com/p/in-praise-of-the-lindy-walk

[Anonymous No.17458762]

>>17457417
>being afraid of black people
poor snowflake
>>17458149
>>17454029
its either listening to music or traffic. ill take music, though i turn it off in the woods where its quiet, for exmaple.

[Anonymous No.17459035]

>>17455615
>>17455622
>>17455633
upvoted the entire thread, great job reddit bros

[Anonymous No.17459060]

>>17447561
fuck, i just got back from a walk while listening to Marcus Aurelius's Meditations.

while we're on the topic, where does /lit/ get its audiobooks?

[Anonymous No.17459127]

>>17447561
Walking is so patrician, OP you should move to a beautiful city, either in terms of architecture (like Chicago or New York) or nature (like Seattle or San Diego) or both (like San Francisco) if you can afford it.
Truly worth it if you’re a walkchad.

[Anonymous No.17459132]

>>17447561
"Night Walks" by Dickens
Walter Benjamin on Baudelaire
"Of Walking on Ice" by Werner Herzog
Confessions of an Opium Eater by De Quincey
The Prelude by Wordsworth

[Anonymous No.17459137]

>>17447802
Your problem was the booze and cigarettes, not walking. At least be honest with yourself.

[Anonymous No.17459217]

Kierkegaard

[Anonymous No.17459230]

>>17458762
There are lots of places to walk that aren’t the forest and are peaceful.

[Anonymous No.17459293]

>>17459127
> walking through San Francisco
I’d like to not do that again.

[Anonymous No.17459325]

>>17459293
Just stay out of the dark red areas

[Anonymous No.17459420]

>>17458762
>400,000 Nigerians move to neighborhood in Guangzhou
>It becomes the most dangerous neighborhood in China, a country of 1.4 billion people, within two years
Imagine relaxing around blacks